If you’re trying to win the game of search engine rankings, there is no better arena than local SEO. The same rules still apply, but your competition is bound to be less sophisticated compared to a globally competitive website.
In this guide, we’re going to show you everything you need to rank your local website on page one and start pulling in website visits, directions, calls, in-store visits, and new conversions.
Once you complete the chapters below, you’ll be ready to rule the local SERPs, beat Google’s algorithm and get new customers directly from SEO.
- Chapter 1 – Google My Business
- Chapter 2 – Google Reviews
- Chapter 3 – Local Keyword Research
- Chapter 4 – Local Onpage Optimization
- Chapter 5 – Local Backlinks
- Chapter 6 – Multi-location SEO
Why this guide?
This isn’t just another guide, regurgitated by copying other local SEO guides.
This guide was created using the strategies that helped this jewelry store add an additional $10,000,000 in revenue in two years.
When we started working with them, they were ranking on page 3+ for their desired keywords and needless to say, they were not happy with their local SEO efforts.
Within a few months of implementing these local strategies, they started seeing rankings improve for highly desirable keywords such as ‘Jewelry Store Phoenix’, ‘Watch Store Phoenix’, ‘Phoenix Engagement Ring’ and others.
Over the course of two years, they rose to become the top ranked jewelry store in Phoenix, Arizona for their most important keywords and added $10,000,000 in revenue.
If that isn’t enough proof, we helped a local real estate business named Prime Plus Mortgages get a 2,418% increase in website visitors and fund an extra $884,000 in deals. Even though they weren’t the largest real estate lender in Phoenix, Arizona, they were able to outrank all of their competitors!
Now if you’re ready to dominate your local SEO, strap in and let’s get to work!
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is the process of optimizing your local business’ website so that it ranks well in search engine results.
The end goal is to gain more visibility in your local search ranking, with results such as increased organic traffic, more website conversions, phone calls, directions and in-store visits.
Local SEO consists of several different digital marketing strategies and we’ve outlined them all in this ultimate guide.
How to rank locally for SEO
As we’ve explained, the bar for entry with local SEO is lower compared to a website that is competing globally. However, you still have to check all the boxes and spend time on your website and online presence to get massive returns from SEO in your local search results.
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Create your Google Business profile
Creating a Google Business Listing will help you rank in the map pack or local pack. When people search on Google or Google maps, you want your local listing to show up. Adding your business name, phone number, address, and cleaning up your business listing for easier access to search engines is priority number one.
A Google My Business listing is a must if you want success with Google search.
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Manage and obtain Google reviews
Google reviews are an extremely important ranking factor for local businesses. Besides Google, you should also get customer reviews for online review websites like Yelp and Tripadvisor, as well as your social media profiles if they are relevant to your industry. The more positive reviews, the better.
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Do local keyword research
After that, it’s time to do local keyword research and find out which keywords potential customers use to find businesses like yours on Google and Bing. This allows you to create laser-focused landing pages, local content and blog content that will rank for those target keywords.
Tools like Ahrefs, Moz, and Brightlocal are great for finding and tracking local keywords.
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Do on-page SEO optimization and schema markup
Once the landing pages and blog content are done, it’s time to do local on-page optimization. This means updating your copy to include the right keywords, adding titles and meta descriptions, and more. This local SEO strategy can help add thousands of buyer-intent visitors for your small business every month!
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Do local link building and build local citations
Once you’ve got the right content on the right pages, you have a well optimized GMB listing, you need to focus on local link building.
Backlinks are created by getting other relevant sites to link back to your site. We put this right up there in the top 3 ranking factors for local search. The more backlinks you have pointing to your website, the better your SEO ranking will be. We recommend hiring a link building agency like ReportCard to manage this for you as it’s not easy to do on your own.
In addition to local backlinks, you want to build local citations. Local citations are when you update your business information in different business directories like Yelp or Google and make them match across the web. Citations are pretty easy to outsource to companies like BrightLocal starting at $2/citation.
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(Optional) Do multi-location SEO
Last but not least, there is multi-location search engine optimization, for companies with multiple physical locations. Although it may seem complex, there are local SEO tips we will show you so you can easily rank well in more than one geographic area.
This covers all of the aspects any business needs to perform well in local searches. For each of these, we’ve prepared a detailed guide you can jump into, start reading and apply the information right away.
Start you local SEO campaign today
Ready to rule the world of local search? It may seem like a mammoth task, but with a little bit of careful planning and elbow grease, any local website can start making money when they rank well in search engine results.
And if you want help from a seasoned SEO professional, we’ll help you build world-class local backlinks for your local business so you can rule the search results and dominate your competition.
Reach out to us and book a free call!
